Abstract
Dear Reader,
It is with great pleasure that we present the latest issue of the ELT Research
Journal (ELT-RJ), a curated collection of insightful and timely contributions that
address the evolving landscape of English Language Teaching and its related
disciplines. True to our mission, we continue to provide a robust platform for
scholarly dialogue, aiming to catalyse further research and innovation among
academics, teacher educators, and practitioners within the global ELT community.
This issue opens with a study by Tuğba Özbek and Emre Toprak. Using a
quantitative survey method, the study focused on scaling factors that influence
English learning and teaching in university preparatory classes, and found that
students ranked effort as the most important factor for learning, while instructors
emphasized student participation as the key factor for teaching.
The second article by Emine Palta and Burçak Yılmaz Yakışık focuses on a
qualitative design with interviews, classroom observations, and document
analysis, and this study focused on how a Turkish university’s English
preparatory program meets business students’ academic and professional needs,
and found that while it improves general proficiency, it fails to provide field
specific skills, highlighting the need for a task-based, technology-integrated
curriculum to better prepare learners for professional life.
In the third study, Ferzan Atay uses a phenomenological design with interviews
of 15 vocational high school EFL teachers, and this study focused on stress
experiences and coping strategies, and found that while teachers show resilience
through pedagogical and psychological approaches, systemic issues like limited
resources, administrative workload, and curriculum mismatches remain the most
critical stressors requiring institutional and policy reforms.
The fourth study by Reza Sahmaniasl and İsmail Yaman uses a mixed-method
thematic analysis of Turkish and Iranian 12th-grade EFL textbooks, and this
study focused on cultural representations across local, global, and target-language
categories, and found that Turkish materials emphasize global themes with
selective Anglophone cues, while Iranian materials prioritize moral, religious, and
national identity narratives, underscoring the need for more balanced curricula to
foster intercultural communicative competence.
In the fifth study, Şeyda Savran Çelik and Dinçay Köksal follow an explanatory
sequential mixed-method design with surveys and interviews. This study focused
on in-service English teachers’ perceptions of 21st-century skills, and found that
ELT Research Journal
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while teachers value these competencies, limited in-service training prevents
effective classroom application, underscoring the need for targeted professional
development.
The sixth study by Evrim Eveyik-Aydın and Zeynep Cumhur Çamlıbel Acar
applies a questionnaire with 123 pre-service teachers and 15 trainers, and this
study focused on tool preferences in emergency distance education during
Covid-19, and found Zoom most favored for ease of use and interaction, Perculus
valued for recording and storage, and YouTube/instructor-made videos
appreciated for autonomy and self-pacing, underscoring the need to align tool
selection with pedagogical demands.
This issue also features a review article. Şeyma Yeşil offers a comprehensive
literature review, focused on the role of AI-assisted tools in fostering learner
autonomy in foreign language pedagogy, and found that while AI enhances
individualized and self-directed learning, challenges such as over-reliance, ethical
risks, and unequal infrastructure highlight the need for scaffolded instruction and
further exploratory research in EFL contexts.
We extend our sincere gratitude to the authors for their significant contributions
and for choosing this journal as a venue for their scholarship. We are also deeply
indebted to our editors, co-editors, and reviewers, whose dedication and expertise
ensure the continued quality and academic rigor of our publication. We trust that
the findings presented here will inspire fresh inquiry, and we warmly invite you
to consider submitting your own original research to future volumes of ELT-RJ.
Best regards,
ELT Research Journal
Prof. Dr. Dinçay KÖKSAL
Editor-in-Chief
Prof. Dr. Gonca YANGIN EKŞİ
Associate Editor
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ahmet Erdost YASTIBAŞ
Associate Editor
Details
| Primary Language | English |
|---|---|
| Subjects | English As A Second Language |
| Journal Section | Editorial |
| Authors | |
| Submission Date | December 25, 2025 |
| Acceptance Date | December 30, 2025 |
| Publication Date | January 1, 2026 |
| Published in Issue | Year 2025 Volume: 14 Issue: 2 |